HTPC Audio

[Gamingphreek]

I finally have the HTPC almost completely ready.

AMD Athlon XP-M 2200+ Barton

Biostar M7NCG-400

Corsair Value Select Memory (512mb)

Onboard Nforce Video

Onboard Sound

Happauge Win PVR-150

Silverstone LC-11 case (mATX only)

NEC 3520a

Well all this was fine and dandy but i forgot about audio completely. My father and i want this to output in 5.1.
Our DVD player is one of the first ones on the market and kind of picky and low quality. So we will use this as the DVD player, however we want it to output in Dolby Digital 5.1, just like our one now can do. This board doesn't have an SPDIF or Optical out.
In order to get what i am asking for would a Sound Blaster Live 5.1 Digital cut it. Or would an Audigy 2 Value or something cut it. Or would i need to find a board with soundstorm for this?

-Kevin

 

[jojiboy]

The SoundBlaster Live 5.1 would probably be sufficient for your needs. But if you want better sound from your DVDs you might want to consider a soundcard based on the Via Envy chipset. The Chaintech AV-710 is a good one and you can generally find them for around $25. It also has an optical out. Here are a couple of links to some HTPC centric sites you might want to check out:

HTPC forum on AVS
Forums at HTPCNews

 

[Gamingphreek]

Well price isn't really a factor as long as it is within reason.

Is the Envy our best bet?

Additionally why wouldn't soundstorm be the best. With the other solutions i cant encode in DD in real time, does that mean that any other card is going to downmix my DVD's to stereo and then output it on all 5 speakers or am i confused?

-Kevin

 

[jojiboy]

IMHO I think the Envy based is a good bet for DVDs but probably not for gaming.

The Soundstorm would be better if you can find a board that uses it in an mATX form factor. I have an Audigy 2ZS in my HTPC but would have preferred the Chaintech. Unfortunately, my receiver doesn't have an optical in, just a coax in. But when I had the Chaintech hooked to my receiver's discreet channels it sounded much crisper and clearer than the Audigy when playing DVDs or music. Like I said, check out those forum links, there is some great info and advice to be had.

 

[mshan]

http://www4.head-fi.org/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=59

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Hey Kevin Also make certain your software player supports 5.1 output, some of the OEM versions of PowerDVD and WinDVD that ship with drives don't.

 

[SynthDude2001]

Originally posted by: Gamingphreek
Well price isn't really a factor as long as it is within reason.

Is the Envy our best bet?

Additionally why wouldn't soundstorm be the best. With the other solutions i cant encode in DD in real time, does that mean that any other card is going to downmix my DVD's to stereo and then output it on all 5 speakers or am i confused?

-Kevin

Soundstorm will only really make a difference for you if you want to encode (for example) game sound into Dolby Digital instead of just having stereo. WMV-HD and similar formats are another possible use.

If you just want to play DVD's, any sound card with a digital output should be fine, since it'll just be transmitting the bitstream that's already encoded and stored on the disc.

 

[imported_miahallen]

Additionally why wouldn't soundstorm be the best. With the other solutions i cant encode in DD in real time, does that mean that any other card is going to downmix my DVD's to stereo and then output it on all 5 speakers or am i confused?

You are confused. ALL the soundcards talked about in this thread are capable of 5.1 "output"="decode"...you are correct that only the Soundstorm will "input"="encode" 5.1 audio.

So when you are watching a DVD, the soundcard is "decoding" 5.1, and even the SB Live is capable of that.

 

[Gamingphreek]

Oh! I see what you are saying.

Then in that case whcih soundcard would produce the best quality. The Live or buying a Chaintech AV-710 or something else. The Live does not have SPDIF or Optical so im not sure how we would connect it.

-Kevin

 

[Gamingphreek]

So which of these would be better?

Link

or the Chaintech:

Link

Additionally just to clarify this, watching a DVD on the HTPC will sound the same (5.1 etc) as watching it on a standalone dvd player.... correct.

-Kevin

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: Gamingphreek
So which of these would be better?

Link

or the Chaintech:

Link

Additionally just to clarify this, watching a DVD on the HTPC will sound the same (5.1 etc) as watching it on a standalone dvd player.... correct.

-Kevin

It should sound the same as it's just passing the digital signal to the receiver for decoding.

Here's some info on various Via Envy based cards, including the two you listed.

I have the AV-710 and love it.

 

[L00PY]

You didn't get a SPDIF PCI Bracket with your mobo, did you? If all you're doing is taking the DVD encoded stream and passing it to your receiver, your onboard should be able to handle that. I think I'm reusing one I got with my M7NCG with an MSI mobo to do just that now -- DD5.1 and DTS get passed via A/52 through coax digital audio perfectly.

 

[fell8]

Originally posted by: miahallen

Additionally why wouldn't soundstorm be the best. With the other solutions i cant encode in DD in real time, does that mean that any other card is going to downmix my DVD's to stereo and then output it on all 5 speakers or am i confused?

You are confused. ALL the soundcards talked about in this thread are capable of 5.1 "output"="decode"...you are correct that only the Soundstorm will "input"="encode" 5.1 audio.

So when you are watching a DVD, the soundcard is "decoding" 5.1, and even the SB Live is capable of that.

If I'm not mistaken, Soundstorm is the only one that offers Dolby digital encoding, and only on the Nforce MPC-D (unless the MPC-S does too), for output not already encoded. I don't believe it encodes input as it only has a single stereo and mic inputs, making it useless. So far as I know, Creative and any other reasonably priced cards don't do Dolby encoding, which can be important with a Dolby reciever-based audio system.

If you're using analog output, the cards mentioned will offer superior sound quality, due mostly to superior DACs. Among cards, I would definately recommend an Envy based solution for 2 important reasons: 1) Envy is regarded as a supreior sound processor (as is evident by it's use in some professional-level cards); 2) Creative is the King of Bloat (seriously, it will install a ton of garbage on your system). The only way I could see going with the Creative would be for it's superior gaming performance, but considering your video choice, it doesn't look like gaming is the top priority.

As for a digital connection, there should be a bracket available somewhere for the mobo.

Thanks for the correction, DAPUNISHER.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

The MCP-D used on nF1 had the DD 5.1 encoding capability first And the M7NCG 400 does have S/PDIF out capability. Check the pin arrangement, it is probably standard and you can use the module made for another board.
Biostar has the S/PDIF for $15 Text

 

[XMan]

Gamingphreek, with that setup, will you use a monitor to set it up then use the TV out on the Hauppauge afterward? I'm thinking about building my own HTPC and don't know if I need an AGP card with video-out for the display . . .

 

[fell8]

Originally posted by: X-Man
Gamingphreek, with that setup, will you use a monitor to set it up then use the TV out on the Hauppauge afterward? I'm thinking about building my own HTPC and don't know if I need an AGP card with video-out for the display . . .

I wouldn't recommend using the Hauppauge out. Instead, look for a mobo or graphics card with s-video out.

 

[jojiboy]

Originally posted by: X-Man
Gamingphreek, with that setup, will you use a monitor to set it up then use the TV out on the Hauppauge afterward? I'm thinking about building my own HTPC and don't know if I need an AGP card with video-out for the display . . .

The Hauppauge card doesn't have a TV out. It only has inputs. So, yes, you will need a video card to display the output.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

I hadn't heard about this card until reading about it on the forums today.

I don't know anything about it, but it looks like it does what soundstorm does as well as does hardware EAX processing.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello
I hadn't heard about this card until reading about it on the forums today.

I don't know anything about it, but it looks like it does what soundstorm does as well as does hardware EAX processing.

I have seen a few people with that int heir HTPC systems and they speak very highly of it.